Graphic: August-born children more likely to struggle in school

While it is widely thought that children born in the summer could be at an academic disadvantage compared to their autumn-born counterparts, a new report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that younger children in the year are also more likely to complain of bullying and to be unhappy in their education.

The reports most striking finding is that teachers report August-born children struggle much more with basic skills than their September-born classmates, who are nearly a year older.

Teachers are nearly 20 per cent more likely to say that a child born in August has below-average reading abilities.

Teachers are 27 per cent more likely to say that a student born in the summer is struggling in maths.

These early struggles appear to affect a small number of August-born children later in their academic careers.

A student born in August is more than two per cent less likely to go to university than a classmate born in September.